Life Time Athletic In A Day

A few weeks ago I got an email with an invitation to come and experience whatLife Time Athletic was all about.

To be honest, I have heard of them only a few times, since their facilities are not in the city and I tend to stick to my gyms. But I was curios since they are opening a location in Chestnut hill pretty soon (kinda close to me) so I obvi said YESSS.

I am pretty use to workout at the same gym all the time or take classes at almost the same studios, but if there is a new gym I need to try it out.

Days before the visit, I received an email with the agenda and all the things we were gonna do. I was very happy I saw the names of fellow blogger friends in the list. It's just make the experience so much better and fun.

Our day was going to be pack with a tour, a 30 minute barbell class, 45 minute yoga session, a massage, a facial and lunch. We were getting the whole experience!

First stop was a tour around the whole club. This locations has 3 floors (yeap, you read it right). The first floor has the cafeteria, the spa, the (huge) locker rooms, 2 pools (a lap pool and a recreational pool), access to the outside pool and outside cafe and lobby. Second floor has the spin studio, fitness classes studios, their own version of crossfit area, and child care (I will go into detail of each below). Third floor has the yoga studios, Pilates room, and the whole gym (machines, treadmills, woodways, room for small fitness classes) and soon a private area for in-house physicians and doctors. oh and a two basketball courts.

As you can tell, the facilities are huge but very well equipped. I was very surprised since a lot of gyms have either one or two, but Lifetime Fitness had everything.

There were a few things that grabbed my attention. Like their group fitness classes! They offer 120 classes, like yoga, spinning, barbell, barre, Pilates, cardio, etc. Most classes have different variations to cater to everyone. Seriously. For example, Spinning has 3 different of classes, AMP, EDGE, EDGE+ and PWR. AMP, is a "fun and sexy class on a bike" , imagine club music and choreography on the bike. EDGE and EDGE+, use a heart monitor and target different heart zones, it is more about optimizing your performance, and PWR is made for the people that have a goal in mind, think triathlons. You still use a heart monitor but you are push to another level. COOL UH?

We didn't take a cycling class, but we did Barbell Strenght, a full body class targeting certain muscle groups using a barbell. Don't be scare, it was just a 10 lb barbell and we were just adding weight to it depending what we were working on.The whole class was on the beat of the music, super fun yet super hard.

We started with a 5 min warm up, which included all the moves that we were going to do during class and perfect to correct form. Straight after we did legs, we did some back squats, dead lifts, and more squats (my hamstrings today were extra sore!). Then chest (tons of chest press, push ups and upright rows), than triceps and we finished with shoulders.I personally LOVED the class, I think it is perfect for anyone that want to learn about lifting but it is not ready yet to go alone on the weight room but also amazing for anyone that wants to tone up and get stronger. I also really liked that they had 1 instructor with 2 assistant instructor, super helpful to follow along but for injury prevention! and the whole class was only 30 minutes...

Then we went into an amazing yoga class, we did 3 different flows and a hamstring stretch, which I definitely needed after class.

Right outside there smoothies waiting for us, and we were taken right into the spa. I've experienced my first facial evaahhh - with a neck and back massage (AH YAASSS). I left with a bag with products that will restore my skin and instructions in how to use them.

Just to top it up the experience, our lunch was beyond amazing. Their Life Cafe, only serves organic, GMO free and fresh meals. Yeap. No chemicals in it or anything funny. Tons of vegan options as well!

right at the beginning of our yoga class.

I could go on and on, but I rather just finish this post with a list of things I loved about Life Time Athletic:

120+ group fitness classes a week + small group fitness classes target to your goals.

Heart rate based classes, that target your own zones.

I don't have kids but the kids zone is amazing. They offer martial art classes, Spanish lessons, gymnastics, and more, for an extra $50 on your membership. You can workout, get ready and your baby will be taken care off.

Indoor and outdoor pools. Yes, pools. I can see how much more you can use it in the summer but having a lap pool in winter, doesn't hurt.

The cafe serves only but healthy meals. It is tasty and convenient.

The staff is super friendly and encourages you to take different classes, training programs and health assessments.

and even the members were super nice...and you can tell they love their fitness community.

You have pretty much everything you need to stay healthy in one place!